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Final Destination 3 By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- The third time is definitely not the charm in "Final Destination 3" (New Line). Directed by James Wong (who also directed the 2000 original), this new installment in the gory horror franchise follows the blueprint of the first two films. As before, it starts off with a girl -- here, high school senior Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) -- with a strong premonition of impending doom. In the earlier movies, the protagonists experience similar bad vibes before boarding an airplane and highway entrance ramp, respectively. This time around, it's a monster roller coaster Wendy and her friends are about to ride. Her Cassandra-like warnings are pooh-poohed, but she demands to be let off the ride, her panicky distress sparking a fracas which results in several fellow students getting tossed as well. Moments later, the roller coaster derails, killing everyone on board -- including Wendy's disbelieving boyfriend -- just as she had foreseen. (In the other films, the heroines' fears were proven equally prescient when, in one instance, the plane crashes, and, in the other, a logging truck loses its haul precipitating a lethal pileup.) But as anyone familiar with the franchise knows -- and as Wendy soon learns -- you can't cheat the Grim Reaper, as each survivor subsequently meets a stomach-churning demise. Little more than a tedious series of gratuitously grisly fatalities strung together by a perfunctory plot, Wong's film tries to out-gross its predecessors with increasingly intricate ways to kill its young cast, mere props for sadistic sight gags. In the first film the plane crash eerily mirrored -- some may say exploited -- the 1996 tragedy of TWA Flight 800. Here, Wong displays similar insensitivity, including photographs of an airplane's shadow ominously approaching the World Trade Center. The film's underlying themes of fate and predestination offer a classic pagan -- or even Calvinistic -- view of life, at odds with Catholic teaching about God's providence. Don't bet on this being the final "Final Destination." Though with any luck, discerning moviegoers will heed similar premonitions before wasting their money. The film contains excessive graphic and bloody violence, including impalings and dismemberments, partial frontal nudity, much rough and sexually crude language, some profanity and recurring crass humor. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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